YEREVAN, August 18. / ARKA /. A Kremlin’s economic advisor Andrei Belousov said Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) could drop by 4% this year, far more than expected by the government.
Judging by what happened in the second quarter, I think that the decline could be 3.5% -4%, said Andrei Belousov when speaking at a youth economic forum, according to Tass.
Russia’s GDP plummeted by 4.6% in the second quarter from a year earlier and the government, which had previously said that the storm has passed, expects a decline of 2.8% in 2015 after growth of 0.6 in 2014. The government also hopes for a rebound of 2% next year.
Since the prices of oil began to fall again in the third quarter, the situation has gotten more complicated for Russia. The ruble fell again Monday to its lowest levels in six months. –0–
